Mosquito Survey

A joint effort is planned for the Vineyard in July, August and part of September to trap and collect mosquitoes that may be vectors for Eastern Equine Encephalitis and West Nile Virus.

The Island boards of health, Dukes County, the state Bureau of Laboratory and Enviromental Science, and the Massachusetts State Laboratory Institute are cooperating in the effort. More information is available by calling T.J. Hegarty at 508-696-4888 or individual town health agents.

The Cost of Wind

At a time when sharply rising oil prices are rippling through the economy — pushing up the price of a multitude of commodities, from gasoline to meat to electricity — the idea of generating power right in the backyard through renewable sources such as the wind grows even more attractive for homeowners.

Small But Mighty

The piping plover is an amazing profile of endurance, hardiness, fidelity and overcoming long odds for survival. These tiny shorebirds mate for life and migrate north for thousands of miles every year to build their nests, which are literally scrapes in the sand.

They are especially attracted to wide-open barrier beaches that have been washed over by winter storms, and this year the Vineyard has many prime real estate offerings in that category, from Norton Point in the Katama section of Edgartown to Tashmoo in Vineyard Haven.

STARTING SMALL

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

When passing by the row of pitch pines along State Road at the Polly Hill Arboretum, I often notice their picturesque beauty that represents the Vineyard sense of place. I enjoy knowing these trees were planted as seedlings purchased in 1929 for 10 cents each. Though I don’t know the exact circumstance of their planting, I imagine Howard Butcher Jr., perhaps with the help of his daughter, the future Polly Hill, planting the little trees with an old shovel and a watering can.

I slept with my first beetle at age eight. Ours was a casual affair; two souls finding refuge on my grandmother’s pull-out sofa. But, as with many relationships, what began as a simple nocturnal arrangement between insect and boy soon became a complicated and crowded tempestuous two week ordeal.

Noisy Gli de

From the Vineyard Gazette editions of June, 1983:

By accident of birth or some would say by destiny, my generation is about to live through yet another sea change of consciousness in this great experiment called the United States of America.

It was as if those audio vignettes so often played on the nearby National Public Radio station WCAI were being spoken out loud, live and seriatum at the Oak Bluffs library:

“I used to carry all the bags off the steamboat, then the ice, and then deliver letters. We’d go to the fish market and open quahaugs for all the hotels. And we’d do the Flying Horses at night, and go swimming,” Billy Norton said, recounting growing up in Oak Bluffs in the 1930s.

“Susan, I have what I swear is a peacock hanging precariously onto my niger (thistle seed) feeder. Earlier the same bird was enjoying cooling off in my garden sprinkler. I am sure it is someone’s pet — do you know who owns peacocks in West Tisbury?”

By LYNNE IRONS

Don Brown is a marketing genius. There is a gorgeous Golden Rain Tree in North Tisbury. Don put a large number of them for sale along the road at the newly reconstituted Middletown Nursery. I practically wrecked the truck pulling in for a walk-about. There are some interesting plants for sale and it is worth stopping by.

Then, right down the road, please stop in at Fiddlehead Farm. There is wonderful local produce and an excellent selection of meats and cheeses. It is a food-shopping pleasure.